Animation

I generally watch a lot of horror movies, documentaries or 90s action b-movies, but there are times when I want something a little bit lighter; I want to feel the bittersweet warmth of nostalgia, the carefree attitudes of the characters and the silly, wholesome plot lines.

As an early millennial I of course watched DuckTales, TaleSpin and Chip 'n' Dale, Darkwing Duck, Aladdin and so on... on Saturday and Sunday mornings (albeit dubbed in a foreign language).

So at times I will put on one of the cartoon series from my childhood (but this time with the original audio). I've started all the major ones from that period. I will typically just watch 3-4 episodes over a weekend and then get back for another session in a month, often with a different cartoon.

The first thing that came to mind when I started this experiment (maybe 3 years ago?) is how my preferences have changed. I liked Chip 'n' Dale and DuckTales the most when I was kid. Now that I am nearing my 40s, I prefer TaleSpin by far, it just resonates with me more. TaleSpin has rather unique episodes such as "Gruel and Unusual Punishment" with cartoon Stalinist boars and the gulag, as well as "Last Horizons" which has some rather mean racial stereotypes and alludes to Pearl Harbour. And generally the episodes felt a bit more down to earth and relatable as an adult.

In contrast, the OG DuckTales felt a bit flat, even though I enjoy (re-)watching the series. Darkwing Duck and Chip 'n' Dale in particular felt a lot less engaging (after the initial hit of nostalgia) when compared to TaleSpin. That being said, Chip 'n' Dale has by far the best intro of all these series. That intro song is 80s magic! It's like a time machine!

So what does all this have to do with the DuckTales reboot? I originally heard about it around the time it was released, but as I wasn't even 30, I had no real interest in watching the reboot. The new animation style also seemed jarring. Well fast forward to the present and I started watching the DuckTales reboot.

It is good! I was pleasantly surprised. You can definitely watch it as an adult (probably even without ever seeing the OG series).

I was going in with low expectations of a lazy reboot and cheap animation and I am happy to report that I was wrong.

I will start with the animation. It's actually very good and detailed, I would have preferred fully hand-drawn animation in the vein of the original, but this works too. A lot of the backgrounds are also detailed with nice stylization. One caveat is that for the older cartoons DVD seems to be the best quality. I watched the reboot in 1080p which is of course on a whole different level.

I also thought the character changes were nice. Webby Vanderquack felt like a significant improvement over the original, you really feel how flawed the original character was. Dewey, Huey, Louie having a bit more of their own personality was also a nice touch. Lena Sabrewing was a good introduction and her character helps mix things up a bit. Even Launchpad felt like an upgrade, keeping his style but with better humour.

It really felt like a reboot that was done well, with respect for the source material, but with adding subtle touches of modernity without going overboard. The characters also act in a slightly more lucid manner that's arguably in line with our times. Even the plots tend to be somewhat more coherent (if you keep in mind that this is a cartoon aimed at children) and with an original spin on the cartoon tropes.

I strongly recommend checking this out, especially if you've seen the original in late 80s/early 90s.